Kandy - Thursday 8th February’24

Woke up later (8.30) thanks to ear plugs, much needed to eliminate money, dog and car noise…. Must remember to Google Earth check our hotel locations next time. We did a Qi Gong practice together in our room, grabbed a coffee and then headed out to walk down to the lake, heading to a Vegan cafe called Sweet Beans for brunch. We continued on and I spotted 3 kingfishers on the edge of the lake, auspicious I feel! Sure enough, a few minutes later were managed to get caught by some guy who was selling tickets for the local dance show, fortunately it was only an hour - 5 until 6 tonight, which is probably about all I can manage. We picked out our seats in the Red Cross hall, again, something straight out of the colonial era. I could just imagine an ‘ain’t af hot’ type performance. Next stop was flagging down a tuktuk to take us to the Royal Botanical Gardens, about 6km outside Kandy. We spent about three hours walking the grounds, spotted a tiny monkjack deer, monkeys, dogs, all manor of birds and spectacularly tall trees, even one tree planted by George V & Queen Mary in 1901. Our lovely driver was waiting patiently and then took us back into the madness of Kandy. We had time for a quick drink in the Queens Hotel, an Arrack cocktail another legacy from the British occupation, established in 1841. You can see how beautiful it once was but definitely faded now and in need of major investment but an experience. We then walked back to the Red Cross Hall took our seats for the performance, which was pretty good in the end but grateful when it finished. Back into town and we found a restaurant called Mulberry for dinner, it was ok but came out a little hungry! Flagged a tuktuk to take us back to our hotel. Now working on plans for next adventure after Kandy.